iHeartRadio, the public-facing brand of the largest commercial radio group in America, is training its resources on the emerging podcast category with new content, technology partnerships, and in-house leadership. We spoke to Chris Peterson, iHeart’s new SVP of Podcasting. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Radio station websites hacked; solar-powered transmitters in South Sudan; personalized radio advertising; much, much more. Continue Reading
A new study from the Knight Foundation is focused on interviews with Foundation grantees. Citing a philosophy of working alongside those organizations, the foundation identified key themes in the podcast industry. Continue Reading
Sirius XM reported its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2016 earnings. Sirius XM CEO James Meyer deflected questions about the company’s will-they-won’t-they interest in buying Pandora and discussed mobile listening. Continue Reading
Nielsen has completed its acquisition of Gracenote. Nielsen has predicted that the Gracenote purchase will have a neutral impact on its 2017 financial results and will be slightly accretive in 2018. The buyout was first announced in December 2016. Continue Reading
Apple Music has hired Steve Savoca, a former Spotify exec. Savoca was the vice president of content at Spotify and his responsibilities centered on label relations. He’ll be performing the same label-focused duties at Apple Music. Continue Reading
The timeline for Spotify’s long-anticipated IPO launch may have encountered another setback. Sources have told TechCrunch that the streaming company could push the IPO back to 2018. The unnamed sources said waiting yet another year would give Spotify time to have a stronger balance sheet and revamp its label licensing deals. Continue Reading
Sony Music Entertainment is seeing growth not just in its overall financial performance, but also in the bottom-line contributions from streaming. The company took in 40.65 billion yen ($372 million) from streaming in the fourth quarter of 2016 and 134.83 billion yen ($1.24 billion) for the whole fiscal year. Continue Reading
Saavn, an India-centric streaming and digital media company, has partnered with AdsWizz and Omnicom Media Group to launch programmatic audio advertising in India. Omnicom and its clients will have access to Saavn’s digital audio ad inventory. AdsWizz will provide the ad solution technology. Continue Reading
Spain’s recorded music industry saw the digital business exceed the physical side for the first time in 2016. According to industry group Promusicae, digital holds a 61% share of the industry and the country has more than 1 million streaming subscribers. Continue Reading
In an answer to the industry-wide question of how CBS Radio will separate from parent company CBS, we learn today that it will merge with Entercom. In this venture, CBS Radio abandons the much-speculated IPO path. Entercom, now the fourth-largest U.S. commercial radio group, will grow to 244 stations. Continue Reading
A new study from the National Association of Broadcasters’ Pilot program found that among the top-selling smartphones in the U.S., the FM chip is activated by at least one major carrier in 44% of them. Continue Reading